It’s not every day that a book arguing that the existence of God is back in vogue, charts at #1 in Amazon’s atheist book rankings.

I was pleasantly surprised (forgive the pun) to be told this week that ‘The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’ is currently charting as #1 new release in Atheism at Amazon.com. It’s good to know that people are getting their pre-orders in ahead of the official release on 12 Sep.

Admittedly, the competition for the number 1 slot isn’t what it used to be.

If you click on the ‘bestsellers’ list you’ll find that the top-selling book in ‘Atheism’ is still ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins, over 15 years since its publication in 2006. Other titles that once rode high in the bestseller charts included ‘God Is Not Great’ (2009) by Christopher Hitchens… today it still ranks at no.3.

From boom to bust

The fact that these books still remain the top selling books in their genre is a reminder that they represented the pinnacle of the atheist publishing boom in the mid 2000s. But that boom fizzled out almost as quickly as it began. Nothing of comparable interest has been written for an atheist audience in the decades since.

It’s yet more evidence (if it were needed) that the new atheist movement itself was fizzling out by the early 2010s. You can read about what led to the unravelling of new atheism in Chapter 1 of The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. I narrate the warring factions that developed in the movement following ‘Elevator-gate’, and the splintering of the movement as it was overtaken by the ideologies and concerns we now call ‘the culture wars’.

Perhaps most significantly, having torn down God, they had nothing to replace him with. The movement simply failed to address the existential question of how to live a fulfilled life.

As the tide changed, the bestseller charts began to feature other secular thinkers like Jordan Peterson, whose book ‘12 Rules For Life’ took a very different approach to the value of Christianity and faith. Indeed, the psychological self-help manual was stuffed with Biblical references and Peterson himself seems to have been teetering on the edge of becoming a Christian himself.

The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God

As the host of weekly conversations between atheists and Christians I noticed the changing dynamics of the cultural conversation. Increasingly the combative debates between bombastic atheists and Christian apologists were being replaced by nuanced discussions with secular intellectuals who were far more open to the value of the Judeo-Christian heritage of the West. I was also noticing a curious number of unlikely converts from atheism to Christianity.

I’ve labelled this phenomenon ‘The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’. It’s an optimistic thesis (but not unjustified IMO) that the atheist materialist story of reality is running out of steam in our culture in a variety of ways. Combine it with a growing ‘meaning crisis’ in our culture, fuelled by the endless anxiety-inducing technology we seem to be hell bent on creating, and you may just have the perfect conditions for a revival of the Christian story.

It’s my contention that we are beginning to witness the turning of the tide. Perhaps Matthew Arnolds’s ‘melancholy, long, withdrawing roar’ of the ‘Sea of Faith’ may become the hopeful roar of a tide that is on its way in again.

Why not pre-order the book, read it for yourself, and see what you think of my argument? Or even better… Become a Gold supporter on Patreon and receive a signed copy (P.S. do it now and you’ll receive your copy of the book before it actually releases!).

Podcast discussions on the new book

I’ve already had the privilege of appearing on numerous podcasts and radio shows to discuss the book this summer. Here are a few examples you may want to check out:

Theology In The Raw

Speak Life

The Babylon Bee Podcast

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you’d like to support my transition into freelance ministry I would welcome your support via Paypal or Patreon (where you can also access exclusive extra content).